A Dark And Dangerous Halloween
by CinLee1
Summary: It's Halloween in Santa Barbara . Shawn and Gus take on a seemingly easy case that they might not survive. One by one, the gang gets picked off. Read and review. AU with Shawn's younger sister as part of the group.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Psych. Read, review, enjoyPsych Office

Caitlin Spencer was at her brother Shawn's desk in his office, installing software. She released a breath that fluttered her bangs. How he ran a detective agency without useful software was beyond her. But he did of course, relying on legwork and his powers of observation, otherwise psychicness by him.

He and his best friend and business partner, Burton Guster, were out working on a missing child case. Since she had wanted to install software, Caitlin had offered to run the office while they were gone.

She grabbed the cordless phone when it rang. "Psych." Caitlin stilled as she listened to the woman on the other end of the phone. "Yes, we have an open appointment time for seven P.M. We look forward to meeting you, Mrs. Phillips." She penciled the name in the appointment book then dialed Shawn's cell. It went to voice mail. It must have meant they were busy investigating and she hoped he had it on vibrate.

The background check software installation complete, she typed in the name of their potential client's husband and let it run.

At the Playground Across Town

Shawn was staring at the play area where Denise Myers was last seen. The ten year old's cousin, Tina, said a strange to her man approached them and Denise stepped to the side to talk to him. Tina had turned to acknowledge a friend and when she turned back, Denise and the man were both gone.

Following the traces of footsteps, Shawn began following Denise's trail. What he didn't see was any sign of struggle. Even if a child trusts a stranger, there comes a point where they stop trusting and start fighting. He was willing to bet Denise knew the man, even if Tina didn't.

He also didn't like the fact that the mother wasn't here in the park. At all. Tina's mother, Denise Aunt Barbara had picked her up in the morning and brought both girls to the park. That in itself wouldn't have bothered Shaun, but no one had been able to contact Mrs. Myers.

"I don't like this, Gus," he muttered to his best friend. "Why can't the mother be contacted?

"I hear that. Doesn't she have a cell phone? Why wouldn't it be on when her daughter's away for the day?"

"I think Denise knew whoever she was…" Shawn stopped in his tracks and stared off into the distance, at the base of the stone wall, which enclosed the playground. "What color did they say she was wearing?"

Gus thought for a moment. "Pink." He squinted and stared off in the direction Shawn was looking. "Oh, hell no."

"Call Lassie and Jules, stay here. Barbara should have called in the police when she first realized Denise was missing." Shawn took several small steps toward the wall when Gus reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Don't Shawn. If what you're seeing is true, you won't be able to handle it."

Shawn took a deep breath. "If the things I've seen since starting Psych haven't…"

"Shawn, none of it has involved a child before. Well, except for the little con-girl that Christmas." Gus felt Shawn's arm tremble under his hand. "Come on, we'll wait for Lassie and Jules together. Over there where we can keep an eye on things for them."

Shawn gave in and followed Gus to a bench. He pulled out his cell phone to check messages. "Oooh Cait called. Hope she's not calling to say she's discovered my stash of Doritos. And ate them all."

"It's not like you can't get any more."

Shawn dialed the office number. "Hey Cait. Uhm…I'm not certain. Things took a bad turn here and we're waiting for Lassie and…yes, I know you've said it's not respectful to call him that." Shawn rolled his eyes at Gus and pointed at his phone. "What? No! Nooo…" he dragged out. "Don't come down here. We'll have it under control soon. Oh? A problem with out potential client? Nothing says we have to take a case, you know. Right. We'll be there as soon as we can." He hit the off button and nodded toward the wall. "And things like this is why I don't want her going back to forensics."

"She might decide to, you know. So. We have a potential client and there's a problem?"

"Yeah, Cait's not certain we should take the case. Something about a threat and her husband is like the little boy who cried wolf."

Gus's eyes widened but said nothing when Carlton and Juliet walked up.

"What have you two gotten in to now?"

"Look, the girl's Aunt thought she wandered off, the cousin said she was talking to some man. She was wearing pink and I'm sensing something pink over by that wall." He held one finger up to his head, the other pointing.

"You didn't check it out, Shawn?" Juliet asked, surprised. Usually Shawn could be found over bodies at every crime scene.

"I…" 

"We didn't feel we could handle finding the body of a child," Gus choked out. Juliet nodded and even Carlton looked a little green before they head over.

Shawn lowered his head when he saw Juliet making a phone call. "Oh God, Gus, it was Denise.

"I'll go get the Aunt," Gus offered, taking off to where they had left the mother and daughter.

Shawn squared his shoulders and headed over toward the two police. "I'm sorry, Shawn," Juliet said softly. "When did the Aunt call you?"

"We came as soon as she called, and we've been here about an hour."

"I know it's not much comfort, Shawn, but it looks like Denise was…well…gone before you were ever called in." Juliet glanced around. "Where's Gus?"

"He went to get the Aunt and cousin."

Gus came running back up, out of breath. "Shawn! They're gone! Nowhere in the playground. One of the other women said she saw them leave right after we headed in this direction."

Shawn closed his eyes then looked at Juliet. "Do all detectives have to vet every client that hires them? We're having a terrible track record."

"I can't speak for all of them, but I doubt it. And honestly, if I was in your shoes and I was called that a child was missing, I wouldn't have checked it out either. We'll have to take you down for a statement though."

Psych Office, Two Hours Later

Shawn and Gus numbly stumbled into the office, immediately sitting at their desks. Shawn had been uncharacteristically silent on the ride home and Gus knew despite Juliet's assurances, Shawn was blaming himself.

"Hey guys!" Caitlin called from the small kitchen area. "Did you get everything str…" She fell silent when she their sadness. "What happened?" She perched on the corner of her desk. "Did you find the little girl?"

"You could say that," Shawn mumbled. "She had been killed."

Caitlin sucked in a breath. "Did she fall from one of the rides or something?"

Gus shook his head. "We don't know the cause of death but we know it was no accident. She was at the base of the far stone wall."

A sudden memory from that specific playground filtered into her mind. "Could she have climbed up on the wall some how and fallen? I remember climbing up there to walk on it. Dad was always yelling at me for that."

"No," Shawn said, tossing his jacket on the nearby chair. "If it was an accident, the aunt and her daughter wouldn't have left before we found her. But oh! That's right! It turned out it wasn't her Aunt at all who called us. We I.D.'d a mug shot. And what do you know? She is wanted for murder. Several murders, but she's never been captured."

"Caitlin," Gus began, wanting to change the subject, "You said on the phone we had a new client but there's a problem?"

"Oh! Yes! Mrs. Winnie Phillips called; she said her husband, David Phillips, has received a murder threat. They're hosting a charity Halloween masquerade at the old…" Caitlin flipped through her notes. "Zimablist mansion and that's where the deed is supposed to be done. I asked if she had called the police yet, and she became quiet and defensive. So…

Once the background check software was installed, I ran a background check on Mr. Phillips. He checks out, a very wealthy philanthropist. But he has quite a past of reporting threats against his life, which have never panned out. So the police won't believe him any longer."

"Philanthropist? He studies the Phillies?" Shawn asked.

"Shawn!" Gus exclaimed. "A philanthropist does good works for individuals and charitable communities.

"Oh. Makes more sense than studying the Phillies."

"Anyway," Caitlin continued, "They will both be here at seven to discuss hiring you."

"You didn't just accept the case for us?" Shawn asked.

"No. When she acted funny at the mention of the police, I wanted to check them out. And besides, honestly, you should meet potential clients before you hire them."

Shawn glanced at Gus, "That's a radical thought."

Gus raised his eyebrows and sighed.

The phone rang and Shawn grabbed it. "Jules!" Shawn's eyes widened as he listened to what Juliet had to say. When he hung up, both Gus and Caitlin were watching him questioningly.

"There's no record of a Denise Myers," he said slowly. "But the girl's fingerprints showed up in the database of missing and exploited children. Amy Dwyer, she's been missing for about six months."

"What have you guys stumbled in to?" Caitlin wondered.

Shawn shrugged. "It's in Lassie and Jules' hands now." He winced when Caitlin smacked his shoulder. "What was that for? The nickname? It's an old habit. An old fun habit. We can't touch the case now unless La…Carlton and Jules or Dad hires us."

"Never stopped you before," Gus said.

"All right, look, we have a week before Halloween. That's when Mr. Filet is supposed to be taken out, right?"

"Shawn! Phillips!" Caitlin corrected. "But yes. But we'll need to check out the house prior to the day of the party."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved his hand dismissively. "We can go check out the playground tonight after we meet with the Philips."

"Shawn! I thought you didn't…" Gus began, only to be shushed.

"I'm going with you tonight then," Caitlin announced. "What does everyone want for dinner?"

"Whoa. Cait. I don't want you involved in this."

"Really Shawn? Because it's dangerous? What if I said the same thing you?"

"No. Because it involves a child. You shouldn't have to…"

"Shawn. I'm a big girl. And you don't think I've seen crime scenes with children before in New York? I can handle it.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Several quotes/mini spoilers from several seasons. Psych Office

At five minutes until seven, Caitlin stepped out from the kitchen. She stared at Gus and Shawn. Gus was playing paper basketball and Shawn was literally sprawled on his chair while playing a computer game. "Guys, clean up a little and get ready."

Two pairs of male eyes flickered to her. Gus spoke first. "We kind of thought you were handling the interview."

"Me? Why would I be handling the interview? It's your detective agency."

Shawn shrugged. "It's your idea to get to know the clients before accepting their cases. We usually just argue about it for a minute and then accept. Then we just jump in. That's how we roll."

"You do realize that sometimes clues can be found when talking to a client, right? They sometimes know more than they think."

Shawn looked to Gus. "She's right. All right, time to change it up a bit. Straighten up Gus." Gus look affronted but picked up the wadded up balls of paper from the floor around his desk. He couldn't resist throwing one at Shawn, which sailed across the room just as an elegantly dressed woman and a scrawny man stepped in to the office.

"Mr. and Mrs. Phillips?" Caitlin asked.

"I'm David Phillips, this is my wife Winnie." He glanced at Gus curiously before sliding his glance toward Shawn. It was obvious from Shawn's expression that he was already plotting revenge.

"Please, come right in here," Caitlin said, ignoring both of them. She had rearranged their game room and set up a medium sized table with six chairs to make a conference area of sorts.

"Mr. Phillips," Shawn said as he pulled up a seat. "Your wife tells us you received a threat against your life? Any idea why someone would want to kill you? Have you been having a torrid affair? Caught someone embezzling? Or…"

"Shawn!" Gus exclaimed.

"No, no," David Phillips said, shoving his hand through his thinning black hair. "There's nothing sordid in my life. You've heard the stories about the Zimbalist mansion?"

"That it's about to fall apart?" Gus asked.

"No. That when it was built back in the 1800's, that something was buried in the foundation when it was built."

Shawn scoffed. "That makes no sense. Why would something bury a treasure where it couldn't be reached?"

"Because it wasn't meant to be found. In fact, the man who buried the treasure was never seen after that night either. Through the following years, there have been rumors of movement in the house and the sounds of digging. I think someone is afraid I will dig up the foundation and discover something."

Gus cleared his throat. "And previous reports of death threats? The ones that were never true? They were prior to you buying this mansion, I assume."

"I think…that I have a stalker. The previous threats were usually in regards to work projects they didn't like. Or maybe they knew I'd been trying to buy the mansion for several years. There were…problems in establishing who held ownership."

"Maybe they didn't want to sell," Shawn offered.

"Then they should have simply stepped forward," David Phillips said. "I only received permission to buy it now because the county claimed ownership after all of those years of abandonment."

Shawn, Gus and Caitlin shared a perplexed look. "Can you give us just a moment?" Gus inquired. Receiving a nod, the three walked out in to the reception area. "What do you think?"

"He is definitely worried, if not scared," Shawn offered. "Besides, it might be fun to hang out at a haunted mansion for a week."

"Uh, Shawn. Do you remember Beta Kappa Theta?" Gus stammered, thinking back to an early case when they had helped Juliet.

"Yeah. But that was fake. It wasn't a real haunting."

"I remember you screaming like a girl as you ran from the house behind me."

Caitlin smiled. "Guys. Honestly, there's no such thing as ghosts. Anywhere. Mr. Phillips isn't from around here, it's entirely possible he's being fed the haunted story."

"It's Halloween, dude," Shawn implored. "What's Halloween for if not to get scared?"

Unable to resist teasing her brother, Caitlin looked at Shawn. "Not that it was Halloween but what is the story I heard about you being found hiding in a closet at Camp Tikihama?" Gus snickered.

"I wasn't expecting to get caught up in a slasher film scenario. If I had been told there was something…and just for the record, I had told Gus I didn't want that case. I even begged to turn around and come home," he sputtered. "Not to mention I've hated Camp Tikihama since I was eleven and had nothing but bad memories of the place. But Halloween is different." Gus looked uncertain but there was a determined look in Shawn's eyes.

"Have I mentioned the fee I'm willing to pay?" Mr. Phillips said from the door, causing all three to jump.

Then Shawn, Gus and Caitlin eyed each other and did the fist bump. "We'll take the case," Shawn assured him. "We'll be out at the mansion on Friday night to start."

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you then. Time to go, Winnie," David called to his wife.

After they left, the three detectives sat down at their desks. Shawn was eyeing Gus while planning their costumes while Caitlin mentally ran through some supplies she would need to pick up.

Lost in thought about what character he'd like to be, Shawn nearly missed hearing his phone ring. " 'lo," he greeted. "Hey, Jules." His jaw dropped as he listened. He was wondering how he had missed such a thing when he remembered he hadn't gone near the body. "Yeah, we're heading there now. Meet you there."

"What happened?" Gus asked.

"It turns out that Denise…I mean…Amy…wasn't killed at the playground. Everybody jumped up and grabbed their jackets and headed for the Blueberry Express.

"So what do we know so far?" Caitlin said from the back, checking the batteries in her flashlight. Then she rummaged in her purse for gloves and plastic bags in case she found something.

"We were given one name when in fact she had gone missing in another state…Ohio, I believe Jules said. After six months, the parents received a ransom demand, which they paid. We know that Barbara, or whatever her name is, is a pathological liar and apparently believes her own lies. That's the only reason I wouldn't be able to read her correctly. Amy died of injuries consistent with a fall, not a single bullet wound like was thought at first. Lassie and Jules…OWW!" he exclaimed when Caitlin lightly smacked him from behind. "You know, we really need to discuss this protectiveness you are feeling for Lassie. He's certainly not protective of me."

"I beg to differ," Gus stated as he drove. He remembered Lassiter's concern when Shawn had been shot and kidnapped. Shawn gave him a look and glanced back to the road.

"That's what we have right now."

"Hmm," Caitlin said. "Why would a kidnapper wait six months to demand a ransom? I know kidnapping victims rarely survive after the ransom drop."

"Maybe they were tired of dealing with her and decided to try to get some money?" Gus offered.

"Not just money. The ransom was also ownership in a…" Shawn squinted in the dusky light to read his notes, "Special effects company."

"What? What kind of ransom is that?

"Apparently they are based in Hollywood and supply effects for most of the blockbuster movies. Makes sense," Shawn said. "Why settle for a lump sum when you can get a ransom that keeps paying? But Mr. Becker was given a company name to sign the stock over to. Jules said it's a dummy corporation?"

"Not unusual," Caitlin said. "Illegal business transactions are often handled that way."

"Apparently the FBI is trying to find out who owns the dummy corporation, but Jules said there are lots of layers. It's going to be a while."

Gus parked at the playground and they made their way to the crime scene, where Juliet and Carlton already were.

Shawn shoved his hands into his pockets when they were close enough. Even Carlton looked perplexed. Everyone moved in opposite directions, studying the ground for anything that could provide a lead. "How often does maintenance pick up litter?" Caitlin asked.

"They keep enough people on staff to patrol their sections every fifteen minutes," Carlton replied. "Do you have something?"

"Maybe. Do you know if they're faithful about checking under bushes and the like?"

Carlton walked over and knelt next to her. "Yeah, they are. The park department supervisors inspect every few hours and they are thorough."

She lifted her flashlight and shown it under the bush in front of them. "Gum wrapper with chewed gum inside."

He smiled. "Excellent work, Spencer."

Shawn studied the stone wall. He was pretty certain that none of the officers had checked that section, since they all had thought the bullet had killed Amy.

"Spencer, what the hell are you doing?" Lassiter yelled when Shaun climbed up on top of the wall. He walked over to the wall and stared up at Shawn.

"Deep footprints up here. Like someone was holding something that caused them to press in deeper. But when they lead away they're not so deep," Shawn called, still staring at the ground. He traced the steps backward, noting they had come through the trees. When he heard the others nearing him, he began following them.

"Shawn?" Juliet called.

"Come on! I'm getting something. Amy was carried through the trees here, probably already shot. They were going to dump her here anyway, but the shot didn't work. So they threw her off the wall."

"He's right," Juliet exclaimed. "There's a trail of blood." They walked several minutes until they finally reached an abandoned car with its trunk open.

Carlton circled the car. "No plates. I'm going to look for a registration or VIN."

As he approached the car, Shawn spotted a blinking red line just under the passenger floorboard. He took off at a run. "Carlton!" he shouted, tackling Lassiter, both of them hitting the ground when the car exploded. Everyone ducked, Gus and Caitlin yelling Shawn's name.

After a minute, Shawn looked up then rolled off of Lassiter. "You all right, buddy?"

Shaken, Carlton nodded. "Yeah. But so much for our crime scene. Who ever they are, they're good. But we're better." Shawn had gotten to his feet and extended his hand to Lassiter. Carlton was both grateful and aggravated. Now he owed Spencer.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: still don't own anything, much to my disappointment.

Many thanks to Olivia94 for beta reading for me.

Gus scrambled to his feet first then helped Juliet and Caitlin up.

"They had to be watching the car," Shawn announced, squinting through the darkness for any sign of other people in the area. "It couldn't have been a timer, they had no way of knowing when anyone would be here."

Caitlin glanced around as well before walking to her left. She flicked on her flashlight. Gus followed her. "What are we looking for?"

"I don't know, exactly. The spot where Amy was shot, I suppose. Although she could have been shot before being put in the car." Caitlin sighed. "I don't get it. What possible motive could there be for killing a little girl? Were they afraid of her recognizing them?"

"That's usually what it is," Carlton replied. "Any time a robber or kidnapper lets their face be seen, you can be pretty certain they're not going to let their victim live."

"Not any time. I suppose it varies by circumstance," Caitlin replied, thinking about the fact that she had been kidnapped and kept from her family. But then she hadn't been ransomed either.

"What about revenge against the father or mother?" Gus asked.

"According to the reports, the Beckers had no enemies. He is a stock broker and she's a nurse," Juliet added.

Shawn held his finger to his temple. "Becker was Amy's step-father. She still had her father's name." Juliet nodded. "Mr. Dwyer is the one who had an enemy, not Mr. Becker," Shawn finished.

"First thing we need to do," Carlton stated, "Is to canvas schools and neighborhoods and find out where Amy has been living." He pulled out his cell phone to call Chief Vick to get the ball rolling.

Shawn came back around to join the others. "I'm not getting anything. She must have been shot elsewhere." He walked over to the still burning car to study it. The fire engines were nearly there and he needed, wanted, something. Anything. Amy had been in the backseat, frightened and in pain. His heart ached for her. Other children had been in this car at different times. Had they all been murdered too? He rubbed his temple trying to not imagine that. Maybe they had been taken to new homes? He stood, albeit wobbly on his feet. "An orphanage," he called out.

"What's that?" Carlton asked.

"She was at an orphanage. Think about it. What better place to hide a kidnapped child until you collect a ransom? Especially if it's a controlled environment."

"We'll check the orphanage data bases. Good work everyone," Juliet said. "We'll reconvene at the station in the morning."

Still shaken by the turn of his thoughts, certain more children had been killed in connection with the car, Shawn stumbled. "Are you all right?" Caitlin asked, walking to his side.

"I don't think Amy was the first one killed. I'm just hoping I'm wrong and they were actually given to new families," Shawn explained. "I just know there were a number of children transported by that car."

The trio fell silent as they pondered that somber idea and got in the car. Gus dropped Shawn and Caitlin off at the office before heading home.

"Are we heading home?" Caitlin asked, following Shawn inside.

"No, I have some thing I want to check out. You can go on home."

She sat down at her desk and fired up her laptop. "I wanted to check out some equipment prices, I'm good."

Shawn nodded off, looking at the list of orphanages in the Santa Barbara area. This would take forever. Who knew there were that many children without family? His nap was uneasy, filled with disjointed images of kidnapped children and parents and siblings that were searching for them. He jerked up and yelped.

"Shawn? You all right?" Caitlin asked, moving quickly to his desk.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. I just…" Shawn pulled her in for a tight hug. If it had been this type of kidnapper who had stolen her…he closed his eyes. "It's just you…and…"

"Hey, I'm home and safe now. But what ever is going on with these children, we need to find out and stop it."

SPBD, the next morning

Lassiter and O'Hara were at their desks when Shawn, Gus and Caitlin walked in. "Hey guys. Rolling Hills Children's Home is what we've come up with. They do their own schooling; the children aren't allowed off of the grounds. It would be perfect for hiding stolen children. They handle only private adoptions and they have a high rate."

"Which means," Lassiter continued, "When we break this ring up, we'll have a lot of families to break up to return children where they belong. The FBI is on their way so we have a short window of time to figure out if they are stealing children."

"Shawn and I are going to go in as potential adopters," Juliet stated. When Lassiter opened his mouth to protest, she held up her hand, "I need him to read the kids and to be able to look through the missing children site to identify them."

"I can do it with Lassiter," Caitlin said. "If Barbara or whatever her name really is is there, she'll recognize Shawn."

Something flickered in Juliet's gaze but she nodded. "You're right. We'll see what we can find on the people on staff and in administration there."

"Be careful, Caity," Shawn said. It would be her first time going off with someone other than him, Gus or Juliet. No matter Carlton's attitude toward him, if she was going into a serpent's nest, there was no one else he would trust more with her.

Rolling Hills Children's Home

Lassiter pulled to a stop in the parking lot and killed the ignition. He glanced at Caitlin. "Ever do undercover work before, even with Shawn and Gus?"

She shook her head. "I've done some surveillance with them but I'm really still setting their office up properly."

"Not ideal but it shouldn't be hard to act like a woman who desperately wants a child. Try not to say too much and be observant when we get around the children."

"Not a problem," Caitlin assured him as she got out of the car. As they approached the door, Carlton's arm slipped around her as he entered his role as loving husband.

"We're Charles and Catherine Eldrond," he whispered in her ear as they entered the building.

A middle-aged woman with her mousy brown hair pulled back in to a bun, glasses perched on her nose, and a business suit stood to greet them. "Welcome to Rolling Hills. I am Agatha, how may I assist you?"

"My wife and I are interested in seeing someone about adopting."

"Oh, of course." Agatha turned to retrieve a clipboard with several papers on it. "If you could just fill these out first and Mr. Daniels will see you after reviewing them."

Caitlin accepted the papers and the pen and they walked over to the sitting area. As Carlton filled out the papers, establishing their cover, she glanced out one of the windows. She spotted the children outside playing and she began carefully taking note of their faces.

When the papers were complete, Carlton walked them to the desk. There was no point in Caitlin going over since they had to wait for the forms to be reviewed and she could spend the time studying the children. When he returned, Caitlin glanced at him. "Waiting's the hardest, isn't it?"

"I'm used it. I mean I can sit perfectly still during a surveillance for up to eight hours."

"Wow," was the only thing Caitlin could say.

"Ever spend any time on a firing range?" he asked.

Caitlin grinned. "Actually, yes. Tom wanted me to learn to shoot. I'm thinking of applying for a permit."

"I'd be happy to help you out," he said with a small smile. "As long as you promise to keep any gun you might get out of Guster and your brother's reach."

"Why don't you get along?" she asked with curiosity.

"I just think he needs to grow up," Carlton admitted. "He has potential and he's actually done good work on a lot of cases. But he jumps in with both feet and doesn't think things through all of the time. And it makes both him and the department look bad."

"Haven't you ever taken a leap of faith?" Caitlin asked. When he shook his head, she smiled. "So you ignore your hunches instead of following them? Ever regret it?"

"Yes, dammit. Your brother has gone on ideas that we've both had and gotten results. Sometimes dangerously but…"

"You both need to find that medium ground."

"Mr. and Mrs. Eldrond?" Agatha said as she approached. They both stood. "If you'll follow me."

They followed her through the long building, Caitlin taking careful note of everything she was seeing no matter how insignificant it might seem.

Agatha ushered them in to an office where a man in a blue polo shirt and dress slacks stood.

"Please, sit down. So I see you are interested in adopting. You've been married for…" Daniels glanced at the paperwork; "Five years and you've had no success with having your own."

Remembering the information Carlton wrote down, Caitlin shook her head. "No, unfortunately the doctors have decided I can not carry a baby after four miscarriages."

"I am sorry to hear that. Are you interested in a boy or girl, and of what age?"

"As long as they are healthy, we're not choosy," Carlton replied. He reached over to take Caitlin's hand.

"Then let's discuss the fees."

Santa Barbara Police Department

Gus was sitting at Lassiter's desk and Shawn at his father's as Juliet broke down the corporations.

"This is ridiculous," Shawn stated after the fourth wave of companies to check out. "Or entirely genius. I haven't decided which."

"Shawn." Gus said warningly.

"If you want something to stay hidden, its pretty darned near genius," Juliet stated.

They each went back to working their stacks when Shawn finally uttered. "Oh my God."

"What is it, Shawn?" Juliet asked.

"It's our new client. David Phillips."

"What?" uttered Gus, scrambling to his feet to see what Shawn was looking at.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: As much as I love Psych, I don't own it.

Many thanks to Olivia94 for beta reading.

Gus peered over Shawn's shoulder. "So much for the background check." Shawn glanced to Juliet who was running her own background check on the man.

"Well he hasn't been caught at kidnapping and selling kids yet," Shawn said. "Now what? We have a contract with him."

"I guess arresting him will nullify that," Gus said thoughtfully.

"Huh," Juliet said. "There's nothing that indicates he has any sort of criminal tendencies. He owns a number of charitable concerns with administrators in place. It could be that who ever is running Rolling Hills set up the corporation. Let's not jump to conclusions. He is a little paranoid though, it seems." She stood, "I'll be right back."

Rolling Hills Children Home

Carlton and Caitlin rejoined Mr. Andrew Daniels in his office after touring the facility. They had seen most if not all of the children. Caitlin hadn't said anything but several looked shell shocked, like one who had been taken from a familiar environment and plopped into an unfamiliar one.

Carlton handed Caitlin the brochure and then shook Daniels' hand. "We'll be in touch. Thank you for your time."

"Of course. We look forward to matching you with your child."

Out in the car, Caitlin rubbed her temple. "What do you think?" Carlton asked, buckling his seat belt.

"Something is definitely off. I just couldn't tell if the children's' expressions were from trauma of being ripped from families by kidnapping or death."

"We'll know more after we go through the missing children data base."

Caitlin nodded. They drove in a companionable silence, and she was in lost in thought. These children were all going to need counseling. The facility had made her think of prison. She hadn't even seen a television.

"Those kids aren't even being allowed to be children," Carlton finally said.

"I was just thinking that. It was a horrible place. Maybe it's the secret to a high adoption rate. Make the couples want to get these kids out as soon as possible."

"I don't know, maybe," Carlton said as he parked in his spot. He followed Caitlin inside.

Santa Barbara Police Department

"Got anything?" Carlton asked the trio who were still researching.

"Yeah, even with our background check, we've got a client who's not on the up and up," Shawn said with disgust.

"We don't know that, Shawn. What are you supposed to be doing for him anyway?" Juliet pointed out.

"He claims, probably falsely, that someone has threatened to kill him at his masquerade on Halloween. In a haunted house no less. But considering how many times he's claimed he's been threatened…"

Carlton settled Caitlin at his vacated desk and brought up the missing children database and handed her a legal pad and pen. "I know the names aren't going to match but write down each one that you saw there today." She nodded and set to work.

"We're not certain what, but something is definitely off at that place. The children are treated like prisoners. None of them looked particularly happy."

A low whistle was heard from Lassiter's desk while Caitlin was writing furiously. When all eyes were on her, she looked up. "I've already identified ten children from the home. Is there any way to find out if there were ransom demands yet on them and anything on their families?"

Juliet sighed. "The chief has ordered us to turn over anything we find on this over to the FBI. But without concrete proof tying your new client to this, we can still investigate him while you're doing bodyguard detail."

"Damn Feds, always wanting to make the collars on our backs," Carlton growled beneath his breath. "All right O'Hara. We'll make our own case. We'll either clear or arrest this Phillips guy." He glanced at Shawn. "Can you get us in to work with you?"

Shawn looked thoughtful. "I can try. I don't know how much research he and his wife did in to us, so I might have to just say we'd be bringing in help. That Zimbalist mansion is huge, too much for three of us to monitor and keep an eye on him. That should work. We have things to do to get ready for the case. Since we'll be there for the masquerade, the two of you should think on your costumes."

Lassiter stared. "Costumes? I haven't worn a costume since I was fifteen and I went as a police officer every year before that."

"I guess you'll have to get creative then, Lassie." Shawn hopped out of his chair. "Come on, we have shopping to do," he said to Caitlin and Gus.

The Mall

Caitlin disappeared into the cell phone store first. Shawn and Gus sat on the bench waiting for her, a frown on Shawn's face. "What…"

"I don't know. She said it's for the case and that it was more important than costumes. I don't question anything Caitlin says or does any more. "

"I am. I'm going to question her background checking. She certainly didn't catch that Phillips was evil," Shawn stated, dragging out the last word.

"Shawn, Jules didn't see anything either."

"Illogical."

"That's irrelevant, Shawn."

"What is?"

"The word you are looking for."

Shawn waved his hand. "Meh. I've heard it both ways."

"No, you haven't, Shawn." Gus looked up when Caitlin appeared with her bag.

"Any thoughts on your costume, Caitlin?" Shawn asked as they headed for the costume shop.

"I've had a few. You?"

"I feel piratey this year."

"Really?"

"Yep. Gus?"

"I think I'll revisit my blacksmith days."

"Blacksmith days?" Caitlin asked with interest.

"Yes. A few years ago, Lassiter had us checking out suspicious activity…"

"And murder," Shawn dragged out.

Gus nodded. "And murder at an Wild West Town tourist site. It was actually kind of fun. Until we fell in the mine shaft."

"Dude! That was so fun though. We discovered gold."

"Yeah, and caused the town to close because the owner decided to retire on the gold find."

"Very cool. You guys get into the coolest stuff," Caitlin said, bouncing along.

"So you didn't tell us your idea for a costume."

"I'm leaning toward Alice in Wonderland, myself."

"Ooohh! Maybe I should do the Mad Hatter," Shawn exclaimed.

"Uhm, no, Shawn, stay with your pirate idea."

"Why? The Mad Hatter is so much fun."

Caitlin sighed and stopped walking. "Did you not see the movie?"

"Uhm, yeah. Jabberwocky slaying, the best rendition of Tweedle Dee and…"

"Shawn! Mad Hatter was in love with Alice. It was totally obvious."

He glanced at Gus in exasperation who simply nodded. "You know that's right."

Shawn pouted. "Seriously. Who knows that? It's seriously creepy. Alice is a little girl who falls down the rabbit hole and the Mad Hatter is a full grown man."

"Uhm, Shawn? In the new movie, Alice is a young woman making her return visit to…never mind. Let's just say you as the Mad Hatter is highly inappropriate," Caitlin said.

"Fine. But I'm buying the costume for next year."

The discussion ended just as they found themselves in front of the shop. Upon entering, the split up, intending to find what they needed for their costumes.

Costumes complete, they met out in front of the store. Shawn listened for a second and smiled. "Ah, it's time for Gus's snack. What shall we get?"

"How about soft pretzels?" Caitlin asked.

"That sounds tasty," Gus agreed, heading to the food court.

Once they were done eating, Gus asked "anywhere else we need to stop?"

"I need a paintball shop or a place that carries supplies for it," Caitlin said.

"Hey, we need to try that sometime," Shawn said, his eyes gleaming. Gus' eyes widened, Caitlin just grinned. "Cool. I'll pick up everything we'll need then."

Gus and Shawn wandered around the sporting good shop they had chosen while Caitlin shopped. "Dude!"

Gus turned around to find a stuffed beaver in his face. He yelped and jumped. "Shawn!"

"Hey guys!" a voice greeted while walking toward them. Henry Spencer couldn't have been more surprised to see his son and Gus in a sporting good store.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

Henry held up a rod and reel. "New equipment. I wouldn't have thought I'd see you here."

"We're waiting on Caity. She wanted some supplies for a case we have and then we decided we'd like to try paintball."

Henry arched an eyebrow. Playing paintball would be good for all of them. They would find their own survival techniques while having fun. He smiled. "That sounds like fun. Let me know how you all like it. Oh and remind Caity about Friday night."

"Friday night?" Shawn asked warily.

"Yeah." Henry inched in. "She's coming for dinner but I figured I would teach her the trunk thing too."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: a quick glance around reveals I still own nothing. Please read and review, and feel free to let me know any requests/ideas for the haunted house masquerade party case. And if you want Shawn and/or Lassie whumping. I'm feeling doubly evil lately.

Many thanks to Olivia94 for her help in keeping me on the straight and narrow.

After putting their purchases away, each of them sat down at their desk. "Oh, Caity. Dad said not to forget Friday night."

"When did you speak with Dad?" she asked, glancing over a folder of menus.

"He was in the sporting good store. I guess we should have known." Then Shawn noted what she was doing. "Oooh. Food. Let's get Chinese tonight."

"Sounds good," Gus agreed. While he called in the order, Caitlin set up the five sets of two-way radio headsets she had picked up.

Shawn arched an eyebrow. "You know we don't really work with gadgets, Caitlin."

"That mansion is huge and we have no idea what we might be dealing with. Plus, we'll have Carlton and Juliet with us. We need to be able to keep in touch."

"Fine. This time only," Shawn relented. When it was just he and Gus, normally it was just the two of them anyway and they tended to stick together. He glanced at Gus and then Caitlin. But then Caitlin was here now. And it would be nice to have a way of communicating if they got separated.

Gus's stomach rumbled. "I'm going to pick up the food, back in a bit."

"All right, Shawn. What lesson does Dad have planned for me Friday night?"

He dropped the pencil he had been playing with. "You think I know what he's planning to do?"

"Yeah, I do," Caitlin said with half a laugh.

Shawn shook his head. "He's going to teach you how to escape from a trunk. Or at least get information to text to someone so they can find you"

"Does it work?"

He absently rubbed his left shoulder. "Yeah, it does. Most likely I'd be dead right now if he hadn't taught it to me."

Caitlin nodded. "I just don't want to let him waste time teaching me something that's not helpful."

"He won't. Learn everything he teaches you." He stood and walked over to the refrigerator to grab drinks then plopped on the sofa in front of the television. Caitlin joined him. "I resented the lessons at the time but I'm glad he pushed me."

Caitlin smiled and tucked her feet under her as she sat next to him. "So what are we watching tonight?"

"Don't know yet. With Halloween coming up, I'm sure we can find a great horror movie."

"Is Gus okay with that?"

"Usually," Shawn admitted. He turned on the television and started searching the on-screen guide. He grinned, spotting one of his favorite movies in the list. Caitlin tried to decide what he had spotted but he switched the television to a music video station. "It doesn't start for a while yet."

"You are so bad," Caitlin laughed.

"I try my best," Shawn teased back. "So when do we want to go on our paintball excursion?"

"Hmm…what about after our case at the mansion?"

Shawn smiled, not missing Caitlin saying our case. "I could use some down time after this."

"What are we doing after the mansion case?" Gus asked as he entered the office, laden down with their food.

"Going on our paintball weekend," Shawn announced. He frowned. "Did we order all of that?"

"It's movie night. We're going to need an assortment to last through our movie." Gus spread the containers over the table, then retrieved plates and chopsticks from the kitchen area. Shawn jumped up and locked the doors and turned off the lights, the television providing the only illumination in the office.

Shawn, Gus and Caitlin were all on the edge of the sofa, their jaws dropped, and waiting for the ax to swing down when Shawn's cell phone rang. They all three jumped, Gus letting out a small scream. As his heart rate returned to normal, Shawn answered the phone. Gus muted the television and turned the light on.

"We have to get to the Zimbalist mansion," Shawn said as he hung up, his eyes round.

"What's wrong?" Gus asked.

"That was Jules. Mrs. Phillips just killed herself."

Caitlin stared in a stunned silence. Of all of the things Shawn could have said to her, that wasn't one of them. "Are they certain?"

"According to Jules…"

They ran to Gus's small car and the trio quietly made their way to the mansion. "This makes no sense," Shawn fussed from up in front. "No sense at all."

After parking, they greet Buzz McNabb at the door and made their way inside. When they entered the main room where Juliet had said they would be, all three lifted their heads to look at the woman hanging there.

Carlton and Juliet made their way to the trio. "It appears to be a straightforward case of suicide. We have a note as well."

"May I?" Caitlin asked, holding out her gloved hand. Carlton handed her the note. "Seriously? Who types a suicide note?" she inquired as she read it. Shawn and Gus read over her shoulder. "In this she claims to have hired someone to kill her husband. Then why did she hire us to keep him safe?"

Shawn glanced at the floor leading to where the body was. "I'm sensing something was dragged through here. Or someone." Under one of the tables he spotted some knick-knacks, which had been knocked from the table. "The spirits are telling me this was not a suicide but a murder."

"Look Spencer, I know about your case. And I'll give you that it's a creepy place. But those marks in the carpet could have been from someone rearranging furniture."

"No. Nooo. The Phillips' didn't live here and the house was ready for their party. If the furniture had just been moved," Shawn added, moving around the room to the display table which had been disturbed. "There wouldn't be disturbances in the dust where things were knocked about during a struggle."

"Shawn!" Gus exclaimed. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I hear a rustling in the wall."

"Don't be ridiculous, Guster. It's probably CSI in the next room," Carlton huffed.

Caitlin strolled from the main room to the next room. She was only gone for a second. "No one over there. And these walls are thick. No way to hear from one room to another."

"One way to find out. Everyone talk or whatever," Carlton said as he made his way to the next room.

Shawn stared up at the body. "I'm not buying it. This woman did not kill herself."

Caitlin joined him. "Women usually overdose when they commit suicide. Hanging is not a normal M. O. with them. And why is she missing a shoe?" Nothing about this added up.

"And I don't believe she wished her husband dead," Gus added as he joined them.

A gust of wind burst through the room as the lights, plunging everyone into darkness. When the lights came on, one wall was covering in what appeared to be dripping blood, telling them to leave.

Gus looked sick and ran for the hall.

"What the hell?" Juliet asked as Shawn inched closer. Not wanting to be left standing alone, Caitlin hurried after him.

"Do you see something?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. Shawn studied the blood. "I wonder if we can get Phillips to cancel the masquerade. It can't be good when walls are dripping blood." There was no doubt from the odor that it indeed was blood.

"What the hell happened?" Carlton demanded when he returned.

"There was a rush of cold air, the lights went out and when they came back on, we found this," Shawn said, pointing at the message.

"There has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this," Carlton stated. "Someone wants us to believe this place is haunted."

The CSI team looked decidedly uncomfortable, quickly finishing their work and releasing the body to the coroner.

The detectives and the consultants were preparing to leave when a tiny wisp of a woman, a housekeeper or maid it seemed, ran up to them. Her eyes were vacant as she hoarsely whispered, "This house was built on murder."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, no, I still don't own Psych.

Many thanks to Olivia94 for beta'ing.

"What are you talking about?" Carlton asked the woman.

"The original owner is presumed to be buried in the foundation of the house. Now every time someone buys the mansion, people begin to die."

Lassiter and O'Hara shared a look.

Outside the Mansion

Gus was waiting at the car for Shawn and Caitlin. "We are not taking this case, Shawn," he stated as soon as they were in earshot. "We're calling Mr. Phillips in the morning and telling him it is a police case and that we advise canceling the party."

"Gus, don't be the harvest color candy corn. We are so solving this case."

"No, Shawn. We're not. Walls that bleed? Nuh uh. No way, Shawn. We'll all end up dead."

"There's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Houses can't bleed and ghosts don't exist."

"No, Shawn. I had a bad feeling about this from the start and it was just confirmed."

"Gus, we have to. We have to find out if Filet is behind the kidnappings," Shawn argued. "If he is and we don't stop him, he'll set up shop elsewhere."

"Phillips, Shawn." Gus looked at Caitlin.

"We need to stop him or clear him. Shawn's right, there's a reasonable explanation for everything."

"I'm going to kill you, Shawn. No. I'm going to kill both of you."

The siblings simply smiled at him.

"I should make the two of you walk back to town," Gus said, sliding in to his seat and starting the engine.

"But you won't because you know we're right, Gus. Besides, Lassie and Jules will be with us most of the time. What can happen?"

"Oh, I don't know. Some maniacal ghost gets hold of an axe and…'

"Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa," Shawn said. "Ghosts can't hold objects. Can they?" he asked Caitlin.

"No, Shawn, they can't."

Gus sighed.

Psych office, the next morning

A distraught David Phillips walked into the office the next morning. It was obvious he hadn't slept all night and his clothing was the same from the day before.

"Mr. Fi…David," Shawn altered as Caitlin kicked him in the shin. He bent down to rub it. "Thank you for coming to see us during this difficult time. Please, have a seat. Pineapple?"

"No, no thank you. I couldn't eat a thing," Phillips replied as he sat down on the sofa.

"First, we wanted to give you our condolences," Caitlin said softly, taking the chair across from him. "Secondly, since it is obvious that the threat should definitely be taken seriously, we thought we would advise you that it would be wise to cancel the masquerade."

"Cancel? I can't do that. The foundation is relying on the donations from it to carry on until next year. And Winnie would never hear of it."

"Then you need to tell us everything," Shawn said. "Why would someone want to kill your wife and you?"

"Winnie went to the house to check on some decoration or another. I told her to wait until today but she was afraid she would forget the detail she wanted to look at. Since she's been a little forgetful lately I let it pass. Wait…. you don't believe she killed herself either?"

"No, we don't," Shawn assured him. "We noted too many inconsistencies at the scene. I'm sensing she felt something was amiss at the mansion-something that didn't add up. She could have come to us…nay…she should have, but that's water under the bridge. Did she give you any indication what it might have been?"

"And what about why they would want to kill you?" Gus asked from the door, hanging up his jacket.

"I recently had an audit done and found something suspicious in the books for one of the arms of the foundation," David replied reluctantly. "I started asking questions of my CFO and then the threats started. And the weird happenings."

"Weird happenings?" echoed Gus as he came closer.

"The shot that was taken at me, but was put down to being a car backfire. The oil on the stairs at the office. One of my assistants slipped in it, fell down the stairs and ended up in the hospital."

"The police didn't take any of this seriously?" Shawn asked.

"Like I said, because they didn't find a bullet they decided it was a car backfiring. The oil, they said, could have been from someone's shoes after stepping in oil in the parking lot. Or my assistant's own shoes, which caused her to fall. At any rate, they refused to take it seriously."

"But now that, well, with your wife's death, surely they have to see there's something going on," Gus pointed out.

"Only if they discount the suicide note including admission of hiring someone to kill me."

Everyone sighed. "We need to check out the house," Shawn stated. When Gus started to protest, he added, "During the day. The decorations, they're not set up to move like funhouse displays are they?"

"No," Phillips replied. "A few are the animated types that are bought at a store but mostly just stationary. I don't believe the police are allowing anyone in the house for a few days, though.

"Of course they're not," Shawn said with exasperation. Nothing to make their job easier. "Lay low and keep in contact with us. The police will let us know when we can go in and look around."

"Thank you, Mr. Spencer." Phillips stood and shook everyone's hand. "It's nice to have someone believe me."

After he left, Caitlin's cell phone rang. She answered, smiling a small mysterious smile. "I'll be there in a few," she said, then ended the call. "I'll be back later."

"Where are you off to?" Shawn asked curiously.

"Carlton is going to teach me self defense. He has some down time and wants me to meet him at the gym at the station."

It was one of those rare occasions that left Shawn speechless. She kissed him and Gus both on the cheek before disappearing.

"Uhm…"

Gus couldn't help but smile. "You might as well count on being nicer to Lassie."

"Speaking of, it sounds like he is not at the mansion. Let's go take a look around."

"Shawn…"

"Come on, Gus. Don't be the only skeleton with flesh on it."

Gus grimaced and followed Shawn to the car. "You're going to owe me big for this, Shawn. So big it will be multi-part."

Zimbalist Mansion

They parked in front of the mansion. It wasn't any less creepy looking in the bright sunlight. Shawn stared up at the attic window, noticing something filmy moving in the opening. "Dude, look."

Gus looked but saw nothing. "That's not the way to convince me to go inside, Shawn."

"Look, I'm going to start in the basement, you take the first floor."

"Shawn, you know I don't like going off on my own."

"Dude, this place is huge. We'll be here until midnight if we have to comb through the entire place together. You really want to be here until midnight?"

"No," Gus grumbled. "Fine."

Gus began in the dining room (he wasn't about to begin in the main room where Mrs. Phillips had died) while Shawn found the door to the basement.

Shawn let out a low whistle when he flipped on the cellar light. The place was like a labyrinth. He seriously doubted the cellar was decorated but if something was going on, the attic or cellar were the best bets for hubs of activity. He eased the first door open and peeked in. Nothing but cleaning supplies. Shawn frowned.

The next room was filled with unpacked boxes. "Can't there be anything interesting. The fifth room caused Shawn to stand and stare at its contents. An elaborate computer system of some sort was set up and running. He tilted his head. And then he spotted a woman's shoe in one corner. Mrs. Phillips' missing shoe. He was wondering why her shoe would be down here if she killed herself upstairs. He was about to back out of the room when his head exploded with pain and the world went dark.


	7. Chapter 7

Shawn's phone was removed from his pocket before he was carried up the stairs to the attic by way of a secret passageway. Once he was secured in a trunk hidden in a corner of the room on the top most floor, Shawn's phone was placed in the kitchen.

_Second and First Floor_

Gus had reached the second floor in his search, totally freaked out by the decorations in the mansion, when he realized he hadn't heard anything from Shawn. He pulled his phone out and checked it. No missed calls. Shawn normally called every five minutes during a search.

He went back down to the first floor. "Shawn?" he called softly. He didn't hear Shawn but he could hear movement. "Shawn! This isn't funny!" Just like the night before, the sound seemed to come from within the walls. Gus grabbed an umbrella from the stand in the hallway. "Shawn? Stop playing, Shawn!"

Gus dialed Shawn's phone. He jumped when he heard the echoing ring coming from fairly nearby. He followed the sound until he found himself in the kitchen. "Nice," he said, admiring the room. On the counter was Shawn's phone. But there was no sign of Shawn. "Where are you, buddy?"

Attic

Pounding pain was the first thing Shawn was aware of as he came around. The near-total darkness enveloping him was the second. "What…where…" Wherever he was, there was barely room to move. He shifted around, feeling for his cell phone but came up empty. Shawn's heart pounded as he began searching for his pocketknife. "Gus!" he yelled, doubting his friend could hear him from wherever he was. "Right. Don't panic," he said out loud to himself. "There's a way out of everything."

He spotted a small sliver of dim light he inched as close as he could to it. A keyhole! As Shawn forced himself to calm down he noticed several slivers of light in between the boards. He realized he was in a trunk of some sort. It wasn't ideal but much better than he had originally feared. "Gus!" he yelled again. Surely if he was missing for too long Gus would come searching for him. Shawn worked one of the blades of his knife into the keyhole and began jiggling the knife. It was a tight fit so he wasn't at all certain it would work. He continued yelling for Gus as he tried to pick the lock.

First Floor

Gus pulled out his phone and dialed Lassiter's cell number. He hated to bother him and Caitlin but Shawn was missing and he needed help. He tried to ignore the weird noises in the house as he waited for Carlton to pick up. Once he knew help was on the way, he was going downstairs to hunt for Shawn. Finally Lassiter answered and Gus told him what was going on in a rushed speech. He listened to the expected lecture from Carlton.

"Yes, I know we shouldn't be here yet, but you know when Shawn gets one of his visions I can't stop him. Besides, the crime scene tape was gone when we arrived and the mansion is part of our case. What? Yes, I'm sure the crime scene tape was gone. I just now realized it. No, Shawn didn't take it down. Listen, we're wasting time. Shawn is missing and is in heaven knows what sort of danger. Just get out here."

Attic

With no room to maneuver, Shawn gave up on picking the lock. He ran his fingers around the top of the trunk, feeling for any screws that would be holding hinges in place. He finally found a hinge then brought up his knife. "Ow," he exclaimed when he poked his finger with the blade. "Really wish I had some light." He stilled when he heard movement- a strange movement. It almost sounded like a wall moving. He held his breath and listened. But the only thing he heard was someone taking something and then leaving. "Weird." He set back to work on trying to work the screws out of the hinge.

First Floor

Carlton came in through the front door, his gun drawn, Caitlin directly behind him. "Find a good hiding place and watch for any unknown person trying to leave or enter the house," he told her. "Don't try to stop them, call me immediately."

"But I…"

"No," Carlton said in a softer voice. "We don't know what we're dealing with and I need you to have my back."

Caitlin nodded and found a spot behind an artificial ficus tree. She returned Carlton's smile and then he disappeared in to the kitchen.

Basement

"Guster!" Carlton called out.

"Over here, Lassie. Three doors down on your right." Gus was standing in an empty room, simply staring at it. He glanced at Carlton when he entered. "Does anything seem off to you about this room?"

"That it's the only empty room in this mausoleum?" Lassie retorted.

"That too. But it's too clean."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"The other rooms have had dust in them. An unused empty room should have dust or spider webs or something. We are in a basement. But it's like it's been meticulously cleaned." He shot a glance at Lassiter who was at least thinking on the idea.

Attic

The last of the screws from the hinges fell around Shawn but the lid still didn't lift up-at least not enough to get out of the trunk. Shawn took a deep breath, about to start kicking at the lid but he inhaled a mouthful of dust, which sent him into a coughing fit. "Agh," he finally grumbled as the coughing eased. He lay still for a second then turned his head while he kicked at the lid.

Finally the lid popped open and Shawn scrambled out of the trunk, blinking against the sudden light hitting his eyes. He sat on the floor for a few moments to catch his breath. His eyes widened. Where was he? He knew it looked nothing like the room in the basement.

Shawn got to his feet and made his way to the window and looked out. He was definitely on an upper floor, probably the attic. But how did he get there? He stretched to work the kinks out, caused by being shoved into a trunk that was too small for him. He wondered how long he'd been out. "Ugh." He knew he had to get out of there and get back to Gus but since he was in the attic, he might as well look around. Nothing caught his attention but he wanted to check it out again when his head wasn't hurting so badly.

Arming himself with a baseball bat, Shawn made his way to the door and out in to the hallway, and then down the stairs. All of his senses were on high alert. When he came to the second floor landing of the stairs, the house reverberated with a blood-curdling scream. Shawn screamed and ran down the rest of the stairs. Gus and Carlton came pounding up from the basement and Caitlin simply stood there with a death grip on her cell phone. "What the hell was that?" Carlton demanded.

"I don't know but I think it was chasing me," Shawn said breathlessly. "It sounded like it was right behind me."

"Shawn! Where we you?" Gus demanded. "Disappearing and refusing to answer me was not funny."

"What? No! I was locked in a storage trunk in the attic."

"In the attic? You were supposed to be in the basement," Gus retorted.

"I have no idea how I got there. I was in the basement, someone hit me and when I came around I was locked in a storage trunk in the attic."

Carlton frowned. "You were on the first floor when he disappeared, right, Guster?"

"I had just gone to the second floor, but yes."

"And there is only one set of stairs from the first floor to the attic and they don't connect to the basement, right?"

"Far as we know," Gus agreed.

"So how'd they get Spencer past you? Even if you were in another room you surely would have heard someone dragging him along."

"You would think so, but I didn't hear anything."

"Let's go back to the basement where I went missing. I sensed something strange and obviously someone didn't want it found."

"Shawn, there was no one else here," Gus said.

"Obviously someone is. Or was…" Shawn hurried to the basement with everyone following closely.

His hand to his temple, Shawn led them to the third door on the right. "This room. I'm getting very strong vibes of something nefarious happening in here."

"Spencer, that room is totally empty," Carlton said.

"Nonsense, Lassie. I'm getting…electrical vibrations? And something about couture. A lot of televisions and a hat? No…"

Lassiter walked over and opened the door. "Completely and totally empty. We already looked in here when we were searching for you."

Shawn looked in to the room then back to Gus, Lassiter and Caitlin. "Seriously, I am still getting…"

"Spencer, maybe the knock on the head disabled your supposed psychic-ness," Lassiter told him while trying to be nice. "You can see for yourself it's empty."


	8. Chapter 8

Psych Office

Shawn walked through the office door and then sat down in the first chair he found. He had been silent through the entire car ride home, trying to figure out what had made that God-awful sound.

"Shawn, whatever made that noise was not chasing you," Caitlin finally said, breaking the silence. "To me it sounded like it was coming from right behind me."

"No, it was coming from the basement," Gus argued.

"I can't believe that room was empty," Shawn said, his eyes closed. "The first room was cleaning supplies, the second unpacked boxes. That room was filled with computer equipment and the missing shoe."

"Missing shoe?" Gus questioned.

"The one that was missing from the body. So my question is this…if you hang yourself upstairs, how does one of your shoes end up in the basement?"

"Maybe she was downstairs when she decided to kill herself?" Gus said.

"No, with those heels she would have had both on or neither," Caitlin said. When Shawn and Gus both looked at her, she explained, "At her age and in her physical shape, she could never have managed the stairs with that much disparity in height."

"Gus, did you find anything interesting?" Shawn asked.

"Just a lot of seriously creepy decorations. And I'm not so certain they're as stationary as Phillips wants us to think."

"I think it's safe to assume that nothing is what it seems at that house," Shawn replied. "I say we go out there tonight and see what we can find."

"Uhm, Shawn, I don't think it's a good idea. You've already been injured and you've hallucinated."

"I did not hallucinate. There was a computer filled room down in that basement."

"Why was it empty when Carlton went in?" Caitlin inquired.

"I…maybe…I don't know. That's one of the things I want to find out."

"If we do this, we stay together," Gus said. "No separating."

"Agreed." He had no desire to get locked in a storage trunk again.

"We need blueprints of the house," Caitlin said, flipping through the paperwork and research they had for the case. As she spoke, she packed some equipment for the night ahead.

"I'm on it," Gus said, dialing Mr. Phillips' phone number. "He's emailing them over.

Shawn walked over to the case board and started writing on it, trying to make sense of everything that was going on. "I feel like I'm missing something."

"Add the information from the orphanage case," Caitlin said as she walked over. "They have to be connected somehow."

Gus spread out the pages of the blueprints on the floor. "Here we go."

Shawn studied the ones for the basement. "This can't be right. The room was four times as large as what is on here. All of the rooms are."

Gus sucked in a breath. "Secret passages. That's got to be it!"

"But no one else was in the house, right? When Carlton and I got there, the only car was Gus's."

Shawn stared at her. "What is it with you and Lassie?"

She shrugged. "We're friends. He's a good man. Oh! Speaking of Carlton, we should let him and Juliet know we'll be out at the mansion."

Shawn continued staring, speechless, and then he looked at Gus, who simply shrugged. "It's Stockholm Syndrome, isn't it? Lassie saved you and you…"

"No, Shawn, that's not even the definition of Stockholm Syndrome," Caitlin replied. She moved to stand next to him, reading the board.

Gus joined them. "Phillips' CFO is also in charge of running the children's home?"

"And that's who he went to with his questions," Shawn exclaimed. "We have the who and why, now we need the how."

"I'll call Carlton and have him pick up the CFO," Caitlin said as she dialed.

"Wait!" Shawn said, snatching his sister's phone from her hand and disconnecting the call. "We need proof. This is too big to do anything without it.

Caitlin's phone rang. Shawn looked at the caller ID and scowled. "It's Lassie."

She glowered at him. "Fine. I'll just tell him we're going out to the mansion. We agreed we should let him and Juliet know." Caitlin answered, "Sorry, Carlton. I accidentally hit end. We're going back out to the mansion for the evening. We will be careful. Yes, we just need to get an idea on what's going on out there." Caitlin held her phone away from her ear as Carlton lectured her on the dangers of returning to the mansion. "We're going to stay together and we're taking radios just in case we get separated. Fine, we'll call in every half an hour." Then she gave a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Carlton."

"He is as bad as Dad," Shawn said when she finally hung up. Gus rolled his eyes and Caitlin stuck her tongue out at the pair of them. "All right, let's change in to our sneaky clothes and meet back here in half an hour."

Zimbalist Mansion

Gus parked the Echo off to the one side of the mansion and they all eased out of the car, dressed in black jeans, shoes and hoodies. Caitlin nearly giggled, thinking they all looked like cat burglars. They slipped the radio headsets on and each took a flashlight and several spare batteries.

"Shawn, I'm not certain I like this," Gus complained while Caitlin tested the radios.

"Gus, it's fine. We'll all be together. What can happen?"

"You ever watch Scooby Doo, Shawn?"

"Dude, it's a cartoon."

"A cartoon that deals with phantoms and ghosts."

"That are always fakes."

Gus huffed. "I'm going to kill you, Shawn." His comment only earned him a smirk.

They made their way through the front door of the house and into the kitchen to the basement door. As before, the first room was filled with cleaning supplies, the second, unpacked boxes.

Shawn eased open the third door and then closed it, stepping back in the hallway.

"Shawn?" Gus asked, noticing his best friend looking a little green, and had his hand over his mouth.

Shawn didn't want Gus or Caitlin to see the sight in there, but he needed a witness. At least Caitlin was used to seeing bodies. His gaze flicked to her. "It's ugly but would you… 

"Oh God," Caitlin uttered as she peered in then backed out of the room as well.

"What?" Gus demanded.

"It's the housekeeper. She's…very dead…" Caitlin informed him while dialing Carlton's number.

"Very…" Gus opened the door before Shawn could stop him. And then he fainted.


	9. Chapter 9

Carlton and Juliet arrived to find Gus splattered out on a sofa, paler than Shawn or Caitlin. "What the hell happened?" he demanded.

"Gus shouldn't have looked," Shawn replied. "We started our search in the basement. We came to the room where I saw the computers, but was empty for you. It wasn't empty this time either." Shawn rubbed his temple. "The housekeeper was in there, extremely dead."

"Shawn, what made her extremely dead? Did you touch the body?" Juliet asked, giving him a look.

"No. Nooo. That would be a negative. It was a given since her body was all over the room."

Juliet grimaced. Then she looked at Caitlin. "I saw it too. Gus as well, although he fainted immediately and hasn't come around."

"And all three of you were together? I'm not sure you'd hold up as one another's alibis," Carlton offered.

"Oh, come on, Lassie!" Shawn half yelled. "Would we really have called you to tell you we were coming here if we were intent on murdering a woman we didn't even know? Seriously?"

"No," Carlton said with half a smirk. "I just wanted to ruffle your feathers. That was fun, Spencer."

Shawn glared at the man, but followed him toward the basement, Juliet trailing behind with Caitlin. "Wait a minute. Someone needs to stay with Gus," Shawn said when they entered the kitchen.

Everyone stopped in their tracks and stared at one another. Caitlin was about to point out that she would be more helpful downstairs, when they heard a loud thud from the living room.

Lassiter and O'Hara pulled their weapons as everyone ran for the living room. Gus was gone. "What the…"

"Maybe he woke up and went to the car," Juliet commented.

Shawn shook his head. "If he opened the door the wind would have blown more leaves in the hallway and there's nothing there now that wasn't there before."

"Then where is Guster?" Carlton hissed.

"GUS!" Shawn shouted while Caitlin tried to make contact on the radio. Shawn's eyes were filled with fear for his best friend. "I sense," Shawn began, lifting a trembling hand to his temple, "That this mansion is riddled with secret passages."

"Great. And how are we supposed to find them, Spencer?" Carlton asked.

Elsewhere in the mansion

Gus slowly regained consciousness. "Wha…what happened?" He opened his eyes to darkness. "Shawn? Caitlin?" The room was silent except for the sound of a beating heart. Gus started to panic. That classic tale always had been one of the things that frightened him the most. "Shawn? Stop playing, Shawn," he yelled, but it dawned on him that he was all alone in the room. He jumped to his feet and headed for the wall, feeling around for a door. "SHAWN!"

Downstairs

Shawn paced. "What are we waiting for? We need to find Gus!"

"We need a plan, Shawn. We still have no idea what we're dealing with," Juliet told him calmly. "I know you're worried about Gus."

"We're going to have to split up," Caitlin said. "There's too much territory to cover to find Gus fast if we're all together.

Carlton nodded. "Caitlin, you're with me. O'Hara, you take Spencer. Check anything and everything. You take the top two floors, we've got this floor and the basement."

"Got it," Shawn said, and then glanced at his sister. Without words he told her to be careful before heading up the stairs with Juliet.

Second Floor

Juliet had just opened the first door on the right to look in when Shawn held out his hand. "Wait."

"Shawn? What is it?"

"SHHH," he said, cocking his head to one side to listen. He could almost swear he heard Gus yelling for him, but he couldn't be certain that he just wanted to hear him. Further down the hall, they heard a creaking sound. "What was that?" he whispered, although it sounded more like a squeak.

Juliet had her gun at the ready and they stealthily headed down the hallway. She and Shawn paused at a door when the creaking sound stopped. As Juliet eased the door open, the room was bathed in light and a skeleton that was manacled to the wall began to shake and rattle. A scream escaped Shawn before he could stop it, but somehow he managed to not bolt from the room.

She flicked a glance at him and then approached the skeleton, which seemed to be having a seizure. Odd, Juliet thought. She knelt next to it. "The bones are real, but I believe they are being moved by a thin wire. Question is, where did a real skeleton come from? And who was it?"

"As long as it isn't one of us five, it's not a priority right now," Shawn said, forcing his breathing back to normal.

"I think we should call for back up," Juliet finally said as she stood back up.

Shawn shook his head. "We'll spook whoever it is. They would be expecting us to check the house, since I'm sure word of the threat against Phillips and his hiring of us for security has been spread around." Shawn scoffed. "And we've done a bang up job on security."

"You can't blame yourself, Shawn. There's something evil going on here and I think it might be bigger than any of us expect."

Shawn looked worried. "Let's just find Gus and get this over with."

Basement

Carlton eased each door open to inspect the room. When he came to the third door, he pushed the door open. The body was still there. In a very non Carlton Lassiter moment, he looked a little sick at the carnage.

Caitlin hovered at the door, keeping her eye on Carlton but not relishing the idea of an up close and personal look at the body again. Before she could react, a hand covered her nose and mouth and an arm wrapped around her mid-section with an iron grip, pinning her arms to her sides. Her captor easily avoided her struggles and dragged her out a side door and into the backyard.

She fought harder when she noticed she was being dragged to an open hole in the earth, which contained a wooden crate. Caitlin screamed as she was tossed in the crate and the lid was put into place. Her heart pounded in her ears as she could make out the sound of dirt being shoveled over it. It wasn't a deep hole, but deep enough to suffocate her if no one found her in time.

Back in the basement, Carlton stood and turned toward the door where he had just seen Caitlin. "Spencer? Spencer! Where are you?" he demanded as he rushed out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything, especially Psych and Poe. Many thanks to Olivia94 for beta'ing. And sorry for the delay in updates, my brain has been hitting me with info for NaNoWriMo.

Carlton crept through the eerily silent basement. "Spencer? Caitlin!" he hissed as he navigated the hallway. He spun when he felt a cool breeze and found a door ajar. Carlton eased it open onto a backyard. Or, from the looks of things, a graveyard. "What the…" He made his way outside, propping the door open with a chunk of cement that was lying near it.

Upstairs

Juliet pushed open a door and peered into a room. Actually, calling it a room was too generous. It was more the size of a broom closet. She spotted a small groove and pulled on it The wall slid open to reveal a set of stairs. "Shawn! I've found something!"

"Gus?" Shawn exclaimed, hurrying from the room he was searching.

"No, but a set of stairs we never saw before." Juliet took a tentative step on them.

"Jules, be careful."

She simply nodded as she made her way down the stairs. Juliet was on the fifth step down when the door slammed shut, locking Shawn on the other side. "Jules!" he shouted, banging on the door and trying to pull it open.

Juliet's hand hit a rough spot on the railing when she turned to see what happened. "Shawn?" she called out just as the stairs flipped, turning into a steep ramp of sorts. "Shawn!" she screamed as she slid into darkness.

"JULES!" Shawn yelled.

Elsewhere in a secret room

Gus stood nervously when a wall slid open. His eyes widened when someone spilled into the room and the portal closed once more. "Juliet?"

"Gus!" she exclaimed as she got to her feet. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but I wish the sound of that beating heart would stop. I've never liked that Poe story."

"It's all right, Gus. It has to be a trick of some sort." She fumbled with her flashlight. "I hope the fall didn't break this."

"Where's Shawn?"

"He was right behind me but the door closed, I don't think he could get through." Juliet tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "I never knew that stairs could really be changed into a slide before."

"Sure if they're made…is that how they got you?"

Juliet nodded, training the beam of light on the floor. "Right after the door closed, they kind of flipped or something. My hand hit something on the railing, it must have triggered it."

"Shawn and Lassie will find us," Gus said, his voice filled with hope and fear.

Back Upstairs

Frustrated, Shawn stepped back into the hall, running his hand over his mouth. He was going to have to get Lassie. Apparently they had stepped into some sort of fun house and not a haunted mansion.

He heard a noise up ahead and he crept forward, hugging the wall. Shawn peeked into a room, once more seeing the elaborate computer set up. _Knew it._ And there was Phillips' CFO, Warren Bainbridge talking to…Shawn sucked in a breath. Mrs. Phillips? How was that possible? He had his hand on his cell phone to call Woody at the coroner's office when pain exploded in his head once more and the world went dark.

Backyard

Caitlin lay in the crate, trying to force herself not to panic when a something in her pocket vibrated, making her jump. Her cell phone? She hadn't thought it would work underground. She pulled it out and focused on the bright display screen. She was already so unaccustomed to the light that was hurting her eyes. "Dad?"

"Caitlin? Where are you and Shawn? Tonight was family night, in case you had forgotten."

"Dad…"

"One of you couldn't call me and say you couldn't make it? Really?"

"Dad…"

"If neither of you can be responsible enough to let me know things, then for God's sake, have Gus call me so I know what's going on."

"Dad!"

Henry paused, finally hearing panic in his daughter's voice. "What's wrong?"

"All three of us are out at the Zimbalist mansion with Carlton and Juliet. Problem is, we're all in danger. Gus has disappeared and…well…there's no easy way to say this, Dad."

"Just say it, Doodlebug," Henry demanded, fear creeping through his body."

"They buried me out back."

"Who? Shawn and Gus?" He'd kill them both. Lassiter and O'Hara too.

"No, Dad. The bad guys, who ever they are."

"I'm on my way, hang in there." Henry hung up and raced for his truck.

Caitlin relaxed then dialed Carlton's phone.

Even more elsewhere in the mansion

The first thing Shawn was aware of as he started to wake up was the weird whooshing noise that filled the room. Then he realized he was tied down to something. He opened an eye and then the other before wishing he hadn't. "Oh crap," he moaned, realizing he was tied down to some sort of stone slab and the whooshing sound was from a pendulum swinging back and forth above him. And it looked brutally sharp. He lay there formulating a plan while staring at the blade. To his horror, it appeared the blade was lowering with each swing.


	11. Chapter 11

"Caitlin!" Carlton snapped out of worry when he answered his phone. "Where are you? What?" The color drained from his face as his gaze swept out over the backyard. He had no clue where to start looking. "Do you know what this yard looks like? Did you notice anything near where you were that would give me a clue to where to start looking?" He waited for a beat or two while she thought. "A clump of white flowers to the left? Got it." He hung up and grabbed a shovel before casting the beam from the flashlight over the yard.

"Aha!" he said, spotting the flowers. As Carlton approached the spot, he glanced toward the house and saw someone watching him from one of the upstairs windows. He was tired of playing games with whoever it was and pulled out his phone, requesting back up. After pocketing his phone, he started digging.

On the road to the mansion

Henry turned on to the private lane that led up to the mansion. Of all of the creepy places to have a case, Shawn had to find this one. He pressed on the brakes of his pick up, skidding to a stop. Not only were the iron gates closed and presumably locked, there were two down trees across them. Someone didn't want anyone leaving or getting in. "Damn it!" he roared, fear for his two children and their friends twisting his heart.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Karen Vick's number, only to discover officers were already en-route and she would send road crew workers out to clear the way in. After hanging up, Henry parked the truck and walked over to the fence. He wondered if he could climb over.

For a few moments, Henry stared at the fence. He picked up a small stone and through it against the bars, deciding he should see if it was electrified. Sparks shot out in every direction. His body jerked with frustration.

In one of the secret rooms

Juliet handed Gus the flashlight. "Here, you hold this, I'm going to look for the handhold."

"What handhold?"

"I found the passageway that led me here when I pulled on a small, carved in handhold hidden in the edge of a wall. There's got to be one here."

"Okay," Gus agreed, taking the flashlight. He held it steady as Juliet examined the first wall. The distraction made it easier for him to ignore the sound of the heartbeat. Other strange sounds were entering his consciousness though; but he couldn't tell where they were coming from or what they were.

"Gus, let's go to the next wall, there's nothing on this one," Juliet said. While she searched, she tried Shawn's phone. "Damn."

"What?"

"It went to voice mail."

Gus was perplexed. In a situation like this, Shawn would never break contact. "That can only mean something has happened to Shawn too."

The duo redoubled their efforts to find a way out of the room. After what seemed like an eternity, Juliet jumped up and down as she pulled on the wall. Gus's eyes widened as the kitchen appeared in front of them.

In another hidden room

Shawn lay on his back, watching the pendulum with horror. Of all of the lessons his father had given him, he had never taught him how to get himself out of a situation even remotely close to this. His pocket buzzed and he jerked frantically on the rope binding his hands, trying to get free. He growled with frustration when the ropes seemed only to tighten.

A quick glance at the swinging blade made Shawn's blood run cold. While he knew logically that it was descending slowly, dragging out the torture of knowing his outcome, it seemed to be coming down lightning fast. "LASSIE!" he shouted, "CARLTON! JULIET! GUUUUUSSSSS!"

In the kitchen, Juliet was staring out of the window at her partner, who seemed to be digging. "What is he doing?"

"Did you hear that?" Gus said, holding his entire body still. "Shawn!" he yelled back. "Where are you?"

Tilting her head, Juliet listened. After a moment, she heard it: a muffled distorted cry from somewhere in the house. She frowned, trying to determine where Shawn's voice was coming from. Considering the labyrinth of secret passageways, she wasn't even certain if he was upstairs or downstairs. "Shawn! Keep talking!" Juliet called out.

"Jules! Hurry!" His voice was filled with a panic that was not like Shawn.

"Shawn!" Gus yelled. "Are you upstairs or downstairs?"

"Can't say for certain. But since I'm in a pit of some sort, I'm going with basement."

Juliet cast a glance out the window, but Carlton was too far away and intent on what he was doing. From the urgency in Shawn's voice, she had no time to go get him. "Come on, Gus." She led the way down the stairs.

"Shawn! Let us know when our voices are close to you!" Gus called out as he and Juliet listened closely at each door and then entered the rooms.

"Just hurry!" Shawn grunted softly. _If only…no…physically impossible._ _Is it my imagination or is that blade coming closer faster?_

"Shawn?" Juliet said and he lifted his head. She was just on the other side of the door.

"Jules! Yes! I'm in here, but there's about to be two of me. Hurry."

"Don't worry, Shawn, you'll be fine," Gus tried to reassure him as Juliet worked on the door.

"It's locked, Gus." Juliet knelt down and started trying to pick at the lock.

"Shoot the damn lock, Juliet," Gus growled.

Juliet went for her gun only to brush nothing but air and fabric with her fingers. "I must have lost my gun when I fell."

"Shawn! What's going on in there?"

"Buddy, you remember the story about the pit and the pendulum? Well, the story doesn't do it justice."

Juliet paled. "Gus, help me bang against the door." After she made several attempts, her eyes rounded. "We're not going to get in there in time, Gus."

"Yes, we are. Step back, Juliet." Gus turned his shoulder to the door and began to apply force. He felt a drop in temperature and the door unlocked and swung open, dumping him in to the room. "Find a power switch, Juliet," Gus shouted before lowering the ladder into the pit and climbing down.

"GUUUUSSSS!" Shawn cried out as the blade passed barely a fourth of an inch from his stomach.

Gus grabbed an axe he spotted setting in one corner and quickly cut the rope binding Shawn's ankles to the slab then ran up to Shawn's wrists and did the same thing.

"Aggghhh!" Shawn cried out as the blade grazed his flesh, pain burning through him. Gus pulled him from the rock before it could make another pass.

"You all right, Shawn?" he asked, handing Shawn his handkerchief to press over the cut.

"I will be. Thanks, buddy," Shawn smiled at his best friend. He hissed as he pressed the cloth against the cut. "Let's find Lassie and Caitlin and round up our villains. You won't believe who is behind all of this."

"At this point, I'd believe anything. You know that door was locked, right? And suddenly it wasn't. There's definitely a ghost here."

"Gus, don't be a hairless werewolf," Shawn scoffed as he struggled up the ladder. "You know I've told you time and again there are no such things as…" His voice trailed off as Shawn caught sight of a man over by the door. The man smiled at him and then was gone in a flash. Shawn blinked and then shook his head before taking another look.

_Upstairs in the kitchen_

"This needs stitches, Shawn," Juliet informed him as she taped gauze over the freshly cleaned wound.

"First things fi…" Shawn stopped speaking when the kitchen door opened and a bedraggled Lassiter accompanied a filthy Caitlin inside. "What in the world?"

"They buried her in the backyard," Carlton hissed. He jerked his head toward Shawn. "What happened to you?"

"Their version of The Pit and the Pendulum." Shawn's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Nothing had ever frightened him like that experience. "I just want to find our villains, wrap this up and never step foot in this place again."

Shawn led everyone from the living room and up the stairs again, heading for where he had spotted the computer room. As expected, the man and woman were still in there, having a heated discussion, more than likely on how to get rid of them.

"I present to you, Winnie Phillips and her brother, CFO Joseph Adams," Shawn said, indicating the pair inside with a swoop of his hand.

"Spencer, Winnie Phillips is dead," Lassiter sighed.

"No. No she isn't. The dead woman is a relation, a close cousin if not a sister. Winnie Phillips married David Phillips for his money. She thought she would be living the high life, traveling, buying expensive clothing and jewelry. But David Phillips isn't like most rich men. He doesn't flaunt his wealth and he doesn't hoard it. He prefers to give back and do good works. Trapped in a loveless marriage that wasn't giving her the benefits that she wanted, Winnie and her brother hatched a scheme, using the orphanage to bring them money. They and their minions went around the country, kidnapping children, changing their identities and then selling them in illegal adoptions.

"But then things went wrong when David actually checked the books and realized the orphanage was making way more money than it should, even after they skimmed off their funds. David made the mistake of trusting his brother-in-law and CFO, and went to him with questions. But he never suspected his involvement or that of his wife. You see Winnie came to the marriage with her own money that was why he never had her investigated. Winnie was also known as Barbara Bowers, the Black Widow killer. Also known as Aunt Barbara, who hired us to find her niece, Denise."

"That is preposterous," the woman hissed, glancing at Joseph. "I'm Julia Adams, Winnie's sister. What sort of horrible joke are you playing?"

"Oh, I've never been more serious. Winnie Phillips had a small scar above her left ear. So do you. Unlikely you would have identical scars in the same place."

"Shawn," Gus said, "If Winnie is behind this, why did she hire us to protect her husband?"

"To make her appear innocent. She wasn't expecting us to check out the house before the day before the party. The threat said David wouldn't live through the party, so she meant to kill him before that."

"Gun!" Juliet shouted when Joseph Adams pulled one and aimed at Shawn. Shawn stepped in front of the entire group except Carlton who had his own gun out.

"Drop the weapon, Adams," Carlton ordered.

"You drop your weapon," Adams demanded, preparing to fire. He shifted his aim from Shawn to Lassiter to Juliet. "We're leaving here and you won't be following. Any of you."

Shawn stiffened when Winnie produced a gun of her own, aiming in his direction. He automatically lifted his hands. He could hear movement behind him. Shawn wasn't certain if it was Gus or Caitlin but he didn't want either of them up there. "Just stay back there," he hissed quietly.

Lassiter's gun came up when Adams grabbed Juliet and pulled her against him. "Drop your gun or I drop her. Right here, right now."


	12. Chapter 12

Lassiter lowered his gun, placed it on the floor and then stood back up. He glanced at Shawn and noticed it was taking every ounce of his will power not to move to get O'Hara. Winnie and Joseph inched toward the door, dragging their hostage along.

Gus realized they needed a distraction. His hands in his pockets, his fingers brushed across the rubber spider he had picked up to hide in Shawn's desk as one of his pranks. He glanced at Winnie and Joseph, who had their eyes on Shawn and Lassie. Gus inched around Shawn and tossed the spider, which landed on Joseph's foot.

Juliet felt Adams' grip loosen as his body jerked. She grabbed his gun arm and applied pressure on his wrist until he dropped his gun. By this time Carlton had already retrieved his gun and trained it on Winnie. "You're both under arrest for murder, kidnapping, extortion, attempted murder, assault on police officers…" He only stopped when O'Hara was cuffing them and reading them their rights.

"Nice move, buddy," Shawn said, fist bumping Gus. He sneaked a glance at Caitlin who had Winnie's gun, covering Lassie and Jules before giving them the weapon.

Halloween nightAfter having politely declined the invitation to David Phillips' Halloween masquerade (which he was holding even after Lassie had informed him the house should be razed), Shawn and Gus decided to host a small Halloween party at the office where they would also greet trick or treaters.

Instead of scary movies, they played Halloween songs on the office stereo and even the décor was kept on the more fun and cute side of Halloween. They had all had enough of being frightened.

Lassiter had surprised everyone by coming as the Mad Hatter and he and Caitlin spent the evening talking in the corner, yet taking their turns at the door.


End file.
